Ski harness



A. c. HILDING 2,649,306

SKI HARNESS.

Filed July 15, 1951 Aug. 18, 1953' INVENTOR.

A. 'c. 'HILDING KQAJMW AGENT Patented Aug. 18, 1953 UNITED ES PATENT SKIjHARNESS Anderson: G.L.Hilding, Du1uth,;Minn;

Application 13,, 1951, Serial No.236i641 1f Glaim..

This invention relates to skiing and has special reference to a ski harness.

It is-Well knownthat the ski harness-apparatus which is presently available and in 1 common use-* is not entirely satisfactory. For example; they; 5 are not comfortable; they donot offercomplete fiexibility of the foot for cross-country skiing; they permit a certain amount oflooseness which is not desirable; they do not safeguard the foot against injury in the eventof afall the following-bones being especiallysubiect to injury: 'tibi'a, fibula, tarsals and metatarsals, andthe joints of' the foot and ankle; they arefatiguing-injuse; and, they often cause blistering of'theheels be cause of friction inside the ski boot;

It is, therefore, one of my principalobjects to provide an improved ski harness whichovercomes the above disadvantages of ski" harmesses; and which, while being particularly" adapted for crosscountry use, will be welladaptedfor slopeskiing as well.

Another object is to provide a ski harness which" Will provide for a near ap proach to natural walk;- ing during cross-country;sk"ng, yet will maintain side-to-side firmness and rigidity.

Another object is to providesuch adevice which; will permit a skier to pivotforwardl y inth'e har ss nd v i nQ6... Qhl 6Ski' nlf IOIlhOfI the harness without injuringhisioot orlcausing any discomfort.

Another object is to provide such adeyice which; will permit t e an a t re .of the.skitootsv with .1 a thinner sole.

Another object is toprovidesuch a device in. which a portion of theharnessisandremains at-i tached to the ski bootjwhil theother portion re-, mains fixed to the ski and, suitable,conveniently operable means to connectand/or,disconnecttheq portions,

Another object isto mountmyskijharness 011. aski in such a manner,that therweight of theski, is properly distributed, for .most convenient handling of the ski.

Another object is to provide aconvenient means: for lockinga ski boot indown or slope,skiingposition on a ski, yet to.provide-.means for,- un-1ockr ing the boot immediately ifasevere strain should-1 be applied to the locking-,means such'as duringa; severe fall.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will become moresapnarentias; ithe 'description of .the invention proceeds In the accompanying drawing forming a part, of this application:

Figure 1 is -anenlarged--side --ele vational -.view of my ski harness showingsameattached' to a ski;

Figure 2 is a broken,topgfplanwiew of the harness shown in Figure 1 withrl he, boot removed.,

Figure '3 is an enlarged 'fragn ental sideieleyational View of the ski harness.

1. Because the;--s01e;-.plate; 43 iixedato Figure 4 isa side view of a ski myski harness attached thereto;

In the drawing, the"reference numeral dicates a skisuchasis in-common-use.- Th I meral 2 indicates aski-boot which is Worndri the manner of ashoefor'skiing,

My ski h-arnesseomprisesa metalplate 3 W1ricii is fixed to-the1ski,- as by screws l extending throughthe" plate-into*the" ski. The-"plate ii s a raised portion 5 which" occurs slightly-res, wardly of the longitudinal center of balance ofthe" ski, the plate 3,1being secured tothe' skion both"- sides of the-raised-portion"5',- as: shown; topro"-* vide the, required strength and durability." Attife upper end of the raised portion-5,1 provide aportion of a hinge connection; thesaid"portion c'oni prising aplurality of 'spacedjalinedeyes" 6fthrough" which a. hinge pintleTm'ay betextendd to acconi plish a pivotal connection'of 'theplate' 5"w'ith't1'1e' metallic sole plate '8' which istfixed to therbbttomt of the ski-boot, asby screws SsecuredthroiIgh suitable openings in the sole plate;

The sole plate B'h'as a portion of a hinge 'conr' nection which comprisesra" plurality of"spa"ced1i alined eyes lllthrough Whichthe pintle'l ex? tends, the relative size and,,po'sitioI1ing7 0f"the? eyes 6 and mjbeingjsuch as to providera connec tion which pivots freely ,on the pintle l ,but where in there is ,-pI'OVidd ,Side+t0rSid firmness and'i rigidity.

As seen-in the drawings, the 'pivotalconnectiorii. of, the, eyes .6 and II 0 .occurs. at the raisedlp'ortiom 5 which is slightlyrearwardly, of "the lohgit'iidinaljf center of balance-of the ski, and; also, the pivotal connection occurs ,under thesolel of! the. boot, or i. rearwardly of thetoerend'of the bootppreferably about an, inch. or an.. inch and one-half rear! wardly of the outer .endlof the. sole.v Thisrrelative positioning. of the pivotaloconnectionof skisboot to ski provides for very advantageous handlingsof :1. the skiby the skier.

For examp1e, a-skier.s foot-is not. hamperedin any way by clamping apparatuswhich embraces; the boot .soleor the-,boot upper, and his-foot (is free ,to pivot free1y-on the pintle l'whereby his skiing effort isranyerygnear approach to natu-rah:

walking, as is .deemedapparent-from the drawings. Also, because-the ski is heavieraforwardlye of the. hinge connection than-iiti isarearwa'rdlyg thereof; the skier shasperfect control. of-thewslsi I as regards lifting it'ofi, -.-.the, groundtforoturning;

so i that his heel aeng-ages .,-the ski and thereby theski is held in. the sameeplane' :asthe:wskierfsrfootri where he: may sideastep, -or,-;turn theism-horizon tally as desired, mosticonveniently;

prises an annular groove II in the outwardly extending end I2 of the pintle, the groove pref- 1 erably having straight side walls, as shown, l

whereby the substantially U-shaped end I3 of the spring clip I4 may be engaged in the groove to prevent the pintle from being pulled out of place accidentally, as when traveling through brush; yet, the spring clip may be raised out of the groove conveniently 'to permit the removal of the pintle when desired. A small projection I 5 may be provided on the end of the spring clip to permit its being operated with mittens on. To facilitate the removal of the pintle I, it is preferably provided with a large eye I6 at its head end which is easily grasped, even with mittens on. In addition, the eye I6 provides a safety factor in that it is a means to engage a suitable snap buckle I8 which has a short length of chain or cord I9 attached thereto, the chain being anchored to the ski to prevent the accidental loss of the pin while skiing in the event brush or some other object should accidentally release the spring clip I4.

It is preferred that the pintle I remain with the ski-boot when the latter is disconnected from the ski in order to keep the eyes I0 free of snow and ice while walking. Because of this, the rear end of the spring clip I4 is attached to the sole plate 8 in rearwardly spaced relation to the eyes II], as at 20. In addition, it is preferred that the eyes Ill be on the outer ends of the pivotal connection and the eyes 6 be intermediate the eyes I0 whereby the pintle will be snugly carried in the eyes II] and will not be bent or lost while in place on the ski-boot only.

The above described arrangement provides a very efficient cross-country ski harness, as is deemed apparent; however, it is also desirable to have a good harness which may be used for so-called slope skiing, wherein the requirements of the harness are different. That is, the skiers foot should be held against any appreciable pivotal movement. To accomplish this purpose, I have provided a heel clamp to hold the heel of the ski-boot close to or touching the ski at all times. The heel clamp preferably comprises a forked yoke 22 which extends rearwardly from the heel and inspaced relation to the ski proper, as shown, and a clamp bolt 23 which is pivotally carried by the ski by means of a soft metal shear pin 24. A thumb screw 25, or the like, is carried on the upper end of the bolt 23, the upper end of the bolt 23 preferably being peened to prevent the removal or loss of the thumb screw therefrom.

As seen in the drawings, the forked yoke 22 may be formed from an extension of the sole plate 8, the latter being bent upwardly and outwardly, at 26 and 21 respectively, as shown; and the clamp bolt may be carried by the ski plate 3 by forming spaced alined eyes 28-28 from an extending portion of the plate 3, as shown, thereby making a unitary harness which is simple to install.

In the operation of the heel clamps, the thumb screw 25 must be run outwardly on the bolt 23 until it may be passed over the outer ends of and into the throat of the yoke 22. The screw may then be tightened to clamp the heel in place. If desired, a lock Washer 29 may be used to insure prolonged tight'nessofthe connection. Because the pin 24 is of soft metal, it will shear off easily in the event an excess stress is applied thereto, as during a serious fall, whereby the skiers foot, ankle, or leg bones are less likely to be injured.

The outer ends of the yoke 22 are preferably bent upwardly slightly, as at 30, to prevent the thumbscrew from accidentally slipping out of e the yoke and to permit slight looseness of the heel clamp connection if such might be desired. Most commonly used ski harness apparatus are a compromise between good cross-country and good slope skiing, and, as a result, are not very good for either. However, I have provided for efiicient ski fastening for both types of skiing without the sacrifice of efficiency heretofore resorted to in ski harness construction.

It is to be understood that I have herein shown and described one specific embodiment of my invention, and that my appended claim is not necessarily limited specifically thereto, but should be construed as broadly as permissible in View of the prior art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

As a new article of manufacture, a harness for mounting a ski-boot on a ski consisting of a metallic plate fixed to said ski substantially centrally of the length of the ski, said plate being bent upwardly intermediate its ends providing a raised portion on said plate slightly rearwardly of the longitudinal center of balance of said ski, a first portion of a hinge connection carried on said raised portion, said hinge portion including an elongated eye extending transversely of said ski, a metallic sole plate fixed to the sole of said ski-boot and extending from the toe thereof beyond the heel thereof, a second portion of a hinge connection on the forward end of said sole plate, said second portion including spaced alined eyes adapted to coincide with the eye of said first portion, a pintle extending through the eyes of said first and second portions to provide a pivotal connection between said plates, means to secure said pintle in its desired position in said eyes, first said plate having a rear end portion extending beyond the heel of said boot, a pair of spaced alined eyes formed of said rear end portion, said sole plate having a rear end portion bent upwardly then outwardly at the rear end of said boot to provide a substantially horizontally disposed clamp member in vertically spaced relation to and over last said eyes, said clamp member being bifurcated from its outer end inwardly, a bolt, a pin pivotally carrying said bolt between last said eyes whereby said bolt will be received in said bifurcation when in vertical position, and a nut on the end of said bolt above said clamp member to clamp first said plate and said sole plate into fixed relation to each other whereby said ski-boot is securely held against said ski, and whereby said nut may be loosened to release said ski-boot to permit its pivotal movement on said hinge connection relative to said ski.

ANDERSON C. HILDING.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,593,937 Hall July 27, 1936 2,545,574 French Mar. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 110,142 Sweden Mar. 21, 1944 928,116 France May 26, 1947 

